Improving Online Course Retention Highlighting practical ways to improve online course retention Presenter: Vincent Schreck, Ed.D

Introduction: Who?, Why?, How? Why are you here? We’ll come back to this… Goal: Generate significant exchange of best practice Plan: Review model, exchange ideas and discuss.

Important Information Focus in the OCRM is “course-level” retention. Model developed at a small liberal arts college. Average age of the student population is 37. Retention is not “learning” or “student satisfaction. OCRM focus is not on specific pedagogy, learning theories or course tools, but rather “organization.”

Remaining Variable - Negligible Connection Teacher Presence Recycle Courses Students Create Culture and Sub-Culture Training and Development

Discursive Theoretical Propositions Online course retention is a direct reflection of how well an institution establishes an inquiry process (i.e., how well they research, build understanding, and implement that understanding) into four major areas: courses, teachers, students, and administrative. If one of the four major areas (courses, teachers, students, and administrative) is missing, the strength of the model diminishes. Therefore, all four areas should be considered when trying to improve online course retention. Strengthening the relationship between variables in the model is more important than improving variables in isolation.

Discursive Theoretical Propositions, cont Highly organized courses and teachers (defined in the following propositions), and knowledge of what motivates online students improve the administrative system for delivery. Highly organized courses feature routines, clear writing, and a templated, weekly layout for discussions. Highly organized teachers focus on establishing a pattern of expectations, offer clear and frequent communication, and engage the students in the learning process. Meeting the needs of students requires strong technical support and training faculty to create a balance between structure and dialogue. This will lead to a community of teachers — students helping students.

Discussion Board Weekly Format Instructor-led questioning Student-led responses Structuring the threaded layout Understanding the differences between “reply” and “starting a new thread. Tips:

Other Tools Calendar - Do you use it? How? Private Mail Tool - Essential for establishing culture/sub- culture. Content Module - My views of “content” in general. Content management systems Assignment Dropbox tips - Why use it? Electronic Gradebook Chat tool Quizzes - Are they necessary? How to do it and save time…